I've checked WOMPT and Torch of Certainty about this, but am still lost... in the mandala section of the Barchey Kunsel, we make offerings to the "three realms and worlds, the beings and all their splendor..." Can anyone clarify what exactly these three realms and worlds are? They are not the form, formless and desire realms...?

Sopa Yutso wrote:I've checked WOMPT and Torch of Certainty about this, but am still lost... in the mandala section of the Barchey Kunsel, we make offerings to the "three realms and worlds, the beings and all their splendor..." Can anyone clarify what exactly these three realms and worlds are? They are not the form, formless and desire realms...?

I found another translation of the text and think I see my confusion. So what it says is:"Three realms and worlds, the beings and their splendor,My body, wealth and all my goodness,I give to you who have compassion;Accept them and bestow your blessings."

It seems that I'm saying,"Dear 3 Realms, etc., I offer my body, wealth and goodness to you; please accept them in exchange for your blessings." However, in a different translation, it seems to instead suggest that I'm actually also offering the three realms, other beings along with my body, wealth, etc. to "those who have compassion." If the latter is true, how can I offer something as vast as the universe/all these worlds, which I don't possess?

Sopa Yutso wrote:It seems that I'm saying,"Dear 3 Realms, etc., I offer my body, wealth and goodness to you; please accept them in exchange for your blessings." However, in a different translation, it seems to instead suggest that I'm actually also offering the three realms, other beings along with my body, wealth, etc. to "those who have compassion." If the latter is true, how can I offer something as vast as the universe/all these worlds, which I don't possess?

Actually you don't really possess anything.

Kevin

"When we are following Dharma, any kind of Dharma - Sutra, Tantra - most important is that first of all we know our condition, not Dharma". - The maestro ChNN

Sopa Yutso wrote:I found another translation of the text and think I see my confusion. So what it says is:"Three realms and worlds, the beings and their splendor,My body, wealth and all my goodness,I give to you who have compassion;Accept them and bestow your blessings."

It seems that I'm saying,"Dear 3 Realms, etc., I offer my body, wealth and goodness to you; please accept them in exchange for your blessings." However, in a different translation, it seems to instead suggest that I'm actually also offering the three realms, other beings along with my body, wealth, etc. to "those who have compassion." If the latter is true, how can I offer something as vast as the universe/all these worlds, which I don't possess?

Chokling Tersar is wonderful.

What you are offering is the infinite capacity of experience, a magnificent wealth indeed. It is your "possession" right now because you have your five senses and in particular you have a mind that lack any impediment of imagination. Mandala offering is about developing a vast appreciation of our capacity of experience and offer this magnificence to the Guru. Your a giving up or offering the world in full appreciation of it so to say.

/magnus

We are all here to help each other go through this, whatever it is.~Kurt Vonnegut

"To reject practice by saying, 'it is conceptual!' is the path of fools. A tendency of the inexperienced and something to be avoided."- Longchenpa

"Even though you have recognized your essence, if you do not get accustomed to it,You will be carried away by the enemy of thoughts, like a small child in a battle field.So long as you are not free from the limitations of accepting and rejecting,That long will you not recognize the view of the innermost secret heart-essence."

We were taught that the best offering was one given with Threefold Purity: "no giver, no receiver and no offering". Though this may seem at first to be counter-intuitive, it can lead to an understanding of emptiness as a felt experience, rather than an interesting (or puzzling) concept.

Chris

"All the sublime teachings, so profound--to throw away one and then grab yet another will not bear even a single fruit. Persevere, therefore, in simply one."--Dudjom Rinpoche, "Nectar for the Hearts of Fortunate Disciples. Song No. 8"